Thanks to the Detroit Free Press I found out that today, April 28, is Arbor Day. The article in the Free Press has a handful of stories about people and their thoughts about trees and why they planted them.

I remember when I was in elementary school and we had a field trip in the spring to the covered bridge in Centreville. They had all sorts of outdoor activities and information about the environment. We learned about planting trees to protect areas from erosion and received a White Pine seedling to take home and plant.

Looking back, I can’t believe how excited I was to have a tree for a present. I planted and watered that little seedling and before you knew it that little pine was really growing.

Unfortunately, my little pine tree didn’t make it too many years. I cannot remember the exact cause of its demise. It was either as a result of some free-range chickens roosting in it at night or the time our calves got out and one of them chomped the top of the tree clean off.

We had a few little pine trees at the time, so I don’t remember which event killed my tree. I know that my tree was one of the two that were finished off by farm animals.

I wish we had more room to plant trees where we live. If we did, we would definitely be planting a tree today.